Dane Rauschenberg is a runner who doesn’t tackle things half way. When he decided to run the Oregon Coast in April – all 350 miles of it – he put a time limit on his effort: one week. Supported by the beef councils of Oregon, California and Washington, as well as by a beef checkoff-funded grant from the Federation of State Beef Councils, Rauschenberg says his quest, which went from the California to the Washington borders, was one that had no precedent.

"No one had ever run the entire coast of Oregon that I could find, so it was difficult to find any particular advice. The planning was just to try to get myself into the best shape possible long, long term – months and months in advance, so I was eating properly and doing the correct amount of preparation." (17 seconds)

Rauschenberg says the run, which amounted to almost two marathons a day, also included educational opportunities for students along the way.

"We would stop at schools every single day and talk to kids about exercising and eating healthy. And questions always came around to, ‘What do you eat, Dane?’, and I always told them about the wonderful message about the power of protein, the 29 lean beef cuts that fueled me through the 350-mile run." (19 seconds)

According to Rauschenberg, while the effort is mind-boggling, there is nothing magical about what he has done.

"I know that it requires a lot of simple things, which people always (mistake) for the right pill, the right diet, the right exercise regimen, but what it really is, is eating properly, and exercising. I owe a lot to genetics. I know that a lot of people can’t do some of the things that I do, but we don’t know what we can do until we put our minds to it." (22 seconds)

Rauschenberg says a friend once told him that good health doesn’t start in the gym or on the track.

"She always said that abs always start in the kitchen. And by that she meant that you can do all the exercise you want but if you’re not fueling the machine properly you might as well forget it. And that is why I’m helping to promote eating lean beef because I really believe it’s the reason why, this weekend I’ll be running my 140th marathon, and I’ve never had a running injury. It’s because I fuel myself with the zinc, the iron, the protein that make it possible for me to continue on." (26 seconds)

Several state beef councils have worked with Rauschenberg in promoting beef through marathons or other runs in their states. The message about the power of beef remains the same, while the miles just keep pouring on.